There is no uniform regulation in the United States on whether to recognize China's postgraduate degree, and it is up to each school to decide for itself. The master's degree of a famous domestic school is recognized by most schools in the United States. I met Tsinghua at Caltech and Berkeley, and studied at University of Science and Technology China with a master's degree. The so-called "usually apply for graduate students" is even more nonsense. How many schools in the United States can apply for graduate students?
Doctors in the United States normally need to study for five years (I mean science and engineering, liberal arts don't understand). You can check the website of the school you are going to apply for. You should have all the information you need to know.